


Endgames

by Roadstergal



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Afterlife, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Cooking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pain, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 06:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18733942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roadstergal/pseuds/Roadstergal
Summary: A post-Endgame ficlet. I couldn't let it just end like that for Tony...





	Endgames

He had planned for this.  How could he not?  You couldn’t spend days and nights working on the damn gauntlet and not have a Plan B.  He had programmed the specs into the nanobots, every micron of the gauntlet.  It was suboptimal, of course, or it would have been Plan A.  The bots and the liquid metal were integrated into his flesh, into his neurons, until they were as much a part of him as his own skin.  And from what he knew of the Stones, handling even one would not feel awesome.  Still, he could take it.  If worst came to worst.  If he had to…

If he had to pry them off, one by one.  They each blazed as he took them, recognizing the signature of _one unworthy_.  Reality flared in anger, Mind glowed in contempt, Time spun his moments away, Space tried to push his molecules apart, Power glowered at his weakness, and Soul… well, Soul searched for his, found little, and writhed in frustration.

He couldn’t think about that.  He activated the program, and the metal flowed, moved, encircling the stones.  They pulled from the arc reactor, and continued to pull, draining it, pulling away all of his shielding to hold the stones steady.  Gamma radiation flooded his body, his eyes burning blue with the Cherenkov traces, flashes of red with the Reality of it all… and yes, he had known there would be pain, he had braced himself, but holy hell, there was no bracing himself when it came to _this_.  He had felt pain before, but nothing like this cold fire wracking his body, scorching his flesh away, and continuing to burn down to the bone.  _I Am Iron Man_.  It was all he had left, and it was his truth, but even iron melted in this fierce heat…

His fingers cracked, creaked, skin gone, sinews melting away, but he could still _snap_.

He released the stones.  They spilled out with relief, seeking freedom, seeking other masters.  He should stop them, he should do something, but he couldn’t move.  He couldn’t… stand?  Metal, hard and cold against his back.  He wanted to be metal.  He wanted to stop being flesh, to stop _feeling_ all of this!  Please.  Gods he didn’t believe in, please let it stop.  Some small part of him screamed _it’s not worth it please take it all back let him have the universe it hurts…_

That part would be gone soon, he reassured himself, and good riddance.

Hands, and faces, and voices, and love, and it all spun.  Couldn’t he just let go?  He wanted to let go, he was so tired, he had been fighting for so long, and suddenly, he realized…

Thanos was gone.  He knew it, felt it deep inside of himself.  These loved people wouldn’t be around him otherwise.  He didn’t have to fight anymore.  He could… let go. 

And yes.  Then, there was nothing.  Sweet, sweet, delicious nothing.

 

* * *

 

 

“Ah, there you are.”

Tony cracked his eyes open.  Everything was blurry, hazy, dizzying.  He coughed, his lungs harsh and creaking.

“It might take you some time to adjust.  To let go of the moment of your death.”

“Let…” Tony wheezed.  Crispiness.  The smell of burnt flesh.  The _tightness_ of it all.

“I had holes in my body for weeks!  It was embarrassing.”  Tony’s vision was starting to clear, revealing a blue sky, beyond the cool shade of green leaves.  And closer than that, a broad grin, the flash of sunshine off of glasses.  Cool fingers on his shoulder.  “But I assure you, my friend.  You are not burnt.  Not _here_.”

Yes, the pain was less.  Was it… was he insane?  He must be, from the way that flakes of blackened flesh were falling from his hand, leaving fresh, pale, intact skin.  He blinked.  His vision was clear, now.

“Yes!” Yinsen said, smiling gently.  “Like that.  You’re looking better already, my friend. You are catching on much faster than most.”

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Tony wheezed.

“We will.” Yinsen grasped Tony’s hand supportively, and Tony eased himself to his feet.  “My time here has been most pleasant.  I am with my family again, and I had such stories to tell them!” He laughed.  “I have to tone them down a little for the children.”

“I never believed in the afterlife…”

“Nor I.  I hoped, but I did not believe.  We have a great deal of research and exploration to do.  We must investigate how this all works." He raised his hands, indicating the area around them - which looked, for all Tony could tell, like a summer afternoon in the Midwest.  "But we have all the time, now.  You have to taste the kofta my wife and I have been working on!  It is…” he kissed his fingers.

“Is Nat here?” Tony braced himself on the trunk of the tree.  The bark was rough, yet yielding.

“Yes, and has been causing quite a bit of stir.  But you know who is not?” Tony shrugged, not having patience for a riddle at this moment. “Peter.  Your wife.  Your daughter.  Steve.  T’Challa.  Wanda.  So many people will not be here for a long, long time, because of you.  There is joy down there, much joy.  People have met other people who they never knew, were suspicious of, and now know they can trust their lives with.  People have seen the ones they feared, the _freaks_ , come to their defense.  They are seeing who they considered _monsters_ rebuilding their homes.  Your sacrifice has brought them together.  There is a little less hate and mistrust in the universe now, thanks to you.”

Tony’s eyes stung.  He shook.  “Uh.  I need a drink.” 

Yinsen shrugged, and a tumbler full of amber liquid appeared in his hand.  He passed it to Tony.  “Perhaps you can learn to cry again.  This is also a worthwhile pursuit.”


End file.
